


Transformers Prime Gem AU

by KittyDoesThings



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Crystal Gems (Steven Universe), Angst, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Transformers Prime AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26334424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyDoesThings/pseuds/KittyDoesThings
Summary: Just some short stories and one-shots for my Steven Universe-inspired AU for Transformers Prime. Updates probably won't be consistent, knowing me. Hope you like reading these! Feel free to request prompts in the comments if you so wish! My Tumblr is kittydoesthings if you wanna see some of my art for this AU as well as other things!
Relationships: Optimus Prime/Starscream
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	1. This is How We Fall Apart

**Author's Note:**

> Character-Gem list  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
> Here's the character list I wrote up:  
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1doaNg74PoG9CELHgPuy560TywH5mK4dnoCqKuLrkjCQ/edit#heading=h.8dxdohc165s0  
> It also contains some other characters as well as a few gem colony names

It was just another quiet day at the Crystal Gem hideout. Benitoite, Aventurine, and Bumblebee were out scouting for gem monsters and relics, and the children were at school, leaving Pietersite and Agate alone in the base. Agate was busy cleaning up his work area while Pietersite settled for organizing the data files they’d managed to collect thus far, consisting of historical records and pieces of gem culture such as art and writing. They didn’t speak a word to each other, simply enjoying the silence and the other’s company. 

That silence was very quickly interrupted by the sound of something banging against the door of the base, desperate to be let inside. Both gems summoned their weapons as Pietersite approached the door to see who was there. They both froze in shock when they saw Herkimer standing right outside the base, his form shuddering and glitching. It was immediately apparent why; his gemstone had a huge crack in it, the damage extending to his physical form.

“Herkimer?”

“I-I didn’t know where el-else to g-go…” Herkimer managed to choke out before promptly collapsing. Pietersite caught him in his arms before he could hit the ground. Agate quickly got his supplies ready as Pietersite carried the small gem into the base. He gently set Herkimer down, then stepped back to allow Agate room to work. Pietersite silently wondered what had happened to the gem to put him in such a state… 

Herkimer came to a few hours later, only vaguely remembering what had happened. He knew he was heading towards the Crystal Gem base, but from there, everything was fuzzy. At least he wasn’t in pain from his cracked gem anymore. The small gem nestled into whatever soft thing he was lying on, waiting for his vision to adjust. The world came into focus, and Herkimer took a moment to look around the room until he ended up meeting the soft gaze of Pietersite.

“How are you feeling?” the large gem asked, smiling gently. Herkimer just stared for a moment before he spoke up.

“Better, I guess… Tired…” He shifted himself a bit. “You… actually helped me…?” 

“It wouldn’t have been right not to with the condition you were in.” Pietersite replied. 

“…thank you…”

“Of course… May I ask how you got to such a state?”

“I don’t want to think about it.” Herkimer quickly answered. The events were still fresh in his mind, to the point it almost felt like Iolite was still attacking him. Pietersite noticed the smaller gem’s distress and gently put a hand on his shoulder. Herkimer felt tears start to well up in his eyes, as much as he didn’t want to cry in front of the Crystal Gem leader. “I don’t want to remember.”

“You don’t have to, don’t worry.” Herkimer slowly set his own hand on top of Pietersite’s as the other gem spoke. “You’re safe here, Herkimer. I won’t let you get hurt again.”


	2. Infestation

It was another normal day at the Crystal Gem base. Jack and Miko were playing video games while Bumblebee and Aventurine watched, Raf was busy with his computer, and Agate was organizing his work area. Agate was in charge of watching the others while Pietersite was out with Benitoite on an arctic mission to search for corrupted gems that had been sighted in the area. So far, things had been peaceful, which was saying something, considering the antics Aventurine and Miko usually got up to.

However, Agate couldn’t help noticing the consistent sound of something skittering around deeper in the base. Everyone was hanging around in the main room, so it couldn’t have been any of them, right? Just to be sure, he decided to ask.

“Raf, are you piloting one of your little robot toys somewhere around the base?” he questioned.

“Uh, no? Why do you ask?” Raf replied. Agate grumbled a bit, hearing the skittering again.

“I swear I keep hearing something running around in the halls. It’s driving me crazy.”

“Maybe a mouse got in?” Jack piped up. 

Agate shook his head. “No, no, it sounds bigger than a mouse.”

“Bee and I could go check it out.” Aventurine offered. Bumblebee nodded.

“Yeah! If something got in we can take care of it, no problem!” the jasper added.

“Ooh! Ooh! Can I help catch it?” Miko blurted out.

“Sure thing! With the three of us, this thing doesn’t stand a chance!” Aventurine laughed.

“Ugh, just be careful, all of you. We don’t know what this thing even is.” Agate warned. As the trio headed off down the hall, Bumblebee waved off the older gem.

“Oh relax, Agate! We’ll be fine!” he called back. Agate rolled his eyes and turned back to his tools, resuming organizing them. A few moments passed before Raf spoke up.

“Hey Agate, look!” The boy pointed at something, Agate turning his head to see. It was some sort of small creature, with a gem embedded in its chest.

“A gem?” Jack pondered

“So THAT’S what’s making the noise!” Agate exclaimed, summoning his saw. “Darn corrupted gem, how’d it even get in here?” He jumped into action, trying to hit the small gem monster as it skittered around him and avoided the attacks. Jack jumped up and grabbed a spare pipe, running over to help. Neither of them were able to land a hit on this thing.

“Hey Agate, we found the-” Aventurine cut himself off as he entered with Miko and Bumblebee, Miko holding another small corrupted gem in her arms that squirmed in her grasp. 

“There’s TWO?!” Bumblebee shouted.

“Are you going to help or are you just going to stand there?!” Agate barked.

“Yeah yeah, gimme a sec, will ya?” Aventurine scoffed, summoning his mace. He took the first corrupted gem from Miko, poofed and bubbled it, then ran over to Agate and Jack to help them out with the second gem monster. Jack finally managed to hit it, stunning the small gem and allowing Agate to poof it. Miko cheered from the sidelines.

“Heck yeah! Corrupted gem defeated!”

“Hey, if there were two of them… do you think there might be more?” Raf asked.

There was silence for a solid minute.

“Search the base.”

An hour later, Pietersite and Benitoite warped in, and were met with the chaos of the rest of the Crystal Gems and the three children running around the base chasing after about two dozen small corrupted gems. The two of them just watched the scene for a moment.

“Uh, Agate? What’s all this?” Pietersite called. Agate just looked over at the tall gem with an exasperated look on his face.

“I don’t know either, just help us out, please.”

“We can’t leave you guys alone for a second, can we?” Benitoite teased, summoning her knives.


	3. Could've Gone Better

Alexandrite thought it was a good idea at the time. A fire extinguishing system was the perfect way of keeping the Nemesis safe. They never thought it would end up going so, so badly.

Jasper had just been tinkering on one of the larger machines in the medbay after Alexandrite had finished installing the systems. Something within the mechanisms had broken and he was trying to fix it. As he was welding something together, some smoke ended up setting off the systems and activated the sprinklers. Jasper of course started freaking out over getting soaked, but then he came to a grim realization, just a moment too late.

Everyone knows water and electronics don’t mix. 

The machine malfunctioned and exploded, dissipating Jasper’s form and leaving his gem lying on the ground of the medbay.

So Jasper ended up briefly out of commission and the machine was nothing but a smouldering pile of scrap metal. Jasper immediately went to Iolite about it once he reformed. Jasper was angrily squawking while Azurite tried to calm him down, Herkimer was laughing his ass off, and Iolite was too tired for this entire mess. Alexandrite was a bit disappointed that the thing they thought would solve a simple problem ended up just causing more of them.

So much for that idea.


	4. Do It For Him

Time seemed to slow down as Herkimer watched Iolite send Pietersite flying back into the hard wall of the cliff. The gem collapsed to the ground; he wasn’t getting back up. Why wasn’t he getting back up?

“ _ **PIETERSITE!**_ ” Herkimer cried, running over to the other gem. The red and blue gem shakily tried to lift himself up, but fell again, coughing as his form glitched. Herkimer slid to his knees in front of the Crystal Gem leader, moving his arm aside to examine his gemstone.

His worst nightmare was a reality. Pietersite’s gem was cracked.

“No…” Herkimer whimpered, tears spilling down his face. His head whipped around at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, and his eyes locked with Iolite’s furious glare. Herkimer instinctively pulled Pietersite into his arms to protect him.

“You’ve reached a new low, Herkimer. Deserting the Decepticons, joining the Crystal Gems, and now protecting their leader. You’re a traitor and a coward. I don’t know why I didn’t shatter you when I had the chance.” Iolite taunted, still slowly approaching. Herkimer hugged Pietersite tighter.

“Stay back, Iolite. Or else you’ll regret it.” the small gem hissed. He tried to keep a brave face, but he couldn’t keep himself from shaking. The poor gem was terrified. He was staring down the gem who had abused him, tormented him for centuries, the one gem in the galaxy who wanted him shattered the most, and he was risking his life to protect someone else’s by standing up to him.

Iolite’s glare increased as he loomed over the two Crystal Gems. “You think you stand a chance against me? You may think you’re strong, but I know who you are Herkimer. You’re nothing.” Iolite raised his sword. “Stand aside and I might be merciful.”

Herkimer’s breathing started to quicken. For too long, he had run away from the things that tormented him. He was done being a coward. He wanted to face his fear once and for all.

The feelings of terror melted away, leaving nothing but rage, and an incredible urge to protect.

“ _ **NO!**_ ” Herkimer shrieked, wings of flame sprouting from his back as he charged at Iolite, knocking the larger gem back several feet. He picked up Pietersite’s sword from the ground, flying up into the air and speeding down at Iolite, prepared to strike. The warlord held up his own sword to block the blow, and the two gems continued to clash with one another before Herkimer gathered the strength within him to knock Iolite to the ground. Herkimer held the blade towards Iolite’s gem, breathing heavily from exertion. He was honestly impressed with himself.

“So… that’s it then?” Iolite wheezed. “You might as well shatter me now. You’ll never get a better chance.”

“As much as I’d love to for all you’ve done to me, all the abuse I’ve had to endure from you for all these years,” Herkimer stated, “it’s not what a Crystal Gem would do.” Herkimer stepped back, keeping the sword pointed at Iolite. “Let this be a lesson to you, Iolite. Next time I might not be as merciful.”

Herkimer’s wings dissipated as he returned to Pietersite’s side. He placed the larger gem’s arm over his shoulders to help him walk to the warp pad. Iolite watched them warp away, then turned and headed back towards the Nemesis.


	5. We're Getting There

Herkimer and Benitoite warped back into the base, both visibly disheveled and utterly exhausted. Pietersite walked over to them, giving them both a soft smile.

“So? How did it go?” the tall gem asked. Herkimer and Benitoite glanced at one another.

“Well, aside from nearly getting mauled by a corrupted gem…” Herkimer began.

“And hanging onto a tree root for dear life to keep from falling into a ravine.” Benitoite added.

“Better than expected, I’d say.” the former concluded, turning back to Pietersite. “We managed to capture the gem without getting our stones cracked.”

“And… talked a few things out.” Benitoite looked over at Herkimer. “We’re not on good terms just quite yet, but we’ll get there eventually.”

Herkimer smiled back at her. “We can only hope so.” he chuckled.

“I’m glad to see you two have worked things out.” Pietersite said, smiling.

“Oh we didn’t work anything out.” Herkimer interrupted.

“He’s just as stubborn as ever.” Benitoite agreed. The two of them parted ways to resume their usual hobbies. Pietersite shook his head amusedly and returned to his tasks.


	6. Chille Tid

The base was completely silent, save for the tapping of Pietersite’s fingers against the keys of the computer and the occasional snores from the rest of the Crystal Gems sleeping nearby. Miko had suggested having a slumber party at the base, and even though gems didn’t need to sleep, they still loved the idea. Surprisingly, even Agate decided to join in. Pietersite had been working at the computer nearby while the others watched movies, ate snacks, and played games together. 

That was about two and a half hours ago. Now they were all sprawled out on the floor or the couch (or in Herkimer’s case, in a pile of pillows), sleeping soundly.

Almost soundly.

A strange noise snapped Pietersite’s attention to the sleeping group. It sounded like someone crying. The Crystal Gem leader carefully moved over to the common area to find the noise coming from Herkimer. The poor gem was shaking, though still asleep. Most likely having a nightmare. Pietersite gently stepped over a few of the others lying on the floor and sat himself down next to Herkimer in his nest of pillows. He could just barely make out the small gem mumbling something about Iolite.

Pietersite pulled Herkimer into a firm but gentle hug, comforting the other gem as best as he could. He didn’t know what Herkimer had been through on the Nemesis, and he didn’t think he ever wanted to find out. What was important right now was that Herkimer was away from the Nemesis, from the Decepticons, and from Iolite. He was safe here. And judging by the lithe gem settling down in Pietersite’s embrace, he could tell the message had gotten through to his subconscious. 

Pietersite hugged Herkimer a little bit tighter and settled himself down in the pillows, allowing himself to drift off to sleep as well. In the morning, there would be excitement as everyone talked about the dreams they had that night, like the Crystal Gems being the bad guys and the Decepticons the good guys, or the Crystal Gems being giant alien robots that could turn into cars, as ridiculous as those ideas were. Dreams didn’t always make the most sense.

As of this moment however, the base is returned to silence.


	7. A Much-Needed Friend

“Um… Jasper-?”

“Please, Herkimer, you can call me Bumblebee.” Bumblebee interrupted.

“Sure, whatever, Bumblebee. Why are you sitting on the ground?” Herkimer asked.

“I’m making friendship bracelets! Miko taught me how!”

“‘Friendship bracelets’?” Herkimer parroted, sitting down next to Bumblebee.

“Yeah! It’s a little accessory thing that humans make and give each other when they become friends sometimes! I thought it sounded fun! Here, I made one for you!” Bumblebee took Herkimer’s hand and slid a bracelet made of silver thread and red beads onto his wrist. The taller gem quickly pulled his hand away, then inspected the shiny bracelet.

“Ugh, strange human traditions.” Herkimer scoffed. “I… suppose it DOES compliment my features well. I’ll give you that.” The small yellow gem smiled warmly at him.

“I’m glad you like it!”

“I never said that.” Herkimer replied bluntly, standing up and walking away, waving the other gem off. Bumblebee rolled his eyes in amusement and resumed making bracelets.

Benitoite strolled out of her room and into the hall, stopping abruptly when she spotted Herkimer lying down on the floor, sobbing. She cautiously walked over.

“Uh, you good Herkimer?” she asked.

“Bumblebee called me his friend…” Herkimer sniffled. 

Benitoite couldn’t hold back a laugh.


	8. Reformed

Pietersite glanced over his shoulder at Bumblebee, who had been worriedly watching over Herkimer’s gemstone for the past few days. There had been a rather intense scuffle against Iolite and a handful of robonoids, and in the heat of battle Herkimer had taken a hit from the warlord that would’ve been fatal for a human, dissipating his form. 

But Pietersite was more worried about the expression Herkimer gave Iolite before he was hit.

The poor gem looked terrified.

Pietersite was not keen on what life on the Nemesis was like for Herkimer or any of the Decepticons, but the look on Herkimer’s face hinted at something Pietersite was certain he never wanted to let the lithe gem experience ever again.

There was so much Pietersite didn’t know about Herkimer and what he’d been through, and he wasn’t sure he would ever find out what it was. Did he even want to?

Pietersite’s thoughts were interrupted when Agate walked into the room, groaning and rolling his eyes upon spotting Bumblebee perched at Herkimer’s side.

“Bumblebee, you don’t need to watch over him. His gemstone’s undamaged and reforming usually takes a while anyways. He’s fine.” 

The jasper whined in response. “But it’s been three days already! He hasn’t taken this long when we poofed him before!” He tapped at the gem lying on the table. “C’mon Herkimer, hurry up already… We’re worried about you…”

Pietersite walked over and kneeled next to Bumblebee’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Have patience, Bumblebee. Herkimer is simply taking his time. He will reform when he is ready.”

The two gems gave each other a sad smile. Agate sighed and resumed organizing his workspace while Pietersite left Bumblebee’s side to return to his own tasks. It was just then Benitoite and Aventurine returned from their scouting mission, followed by Jack, Raf, and Miko.

“Man, is Herkimer STILL not back yet? It’s been forever!” Miko complained.

“He usually doesn’t take this long to reform, does he?” Raf asked.

Benitoite shrugged. “Well, to be fair to him, he did take a pretty hard hit. He’ll need the time to recover. Don’t you remember how long I was out for that one time?”

“An entire week.” Jack answered. “You came back with an entirely new outfit too. Think he’s doing something like that too?”

“Who knows with Herkimer. He seemed pretty against the idea of wearing a star like the rest of us, so we can’t really be sure.” Aventurine replied.

The conversation was cut short by a bright light cutting through the room. Herkimer’s gemstone started to lift into the air. Everyone ran over to watch.

“Guess we’re about to find out.” Agate muttered. Everyone held their breath as they watched Herkimer take form. Nobody knew what to expect. Herkimer had been with the Crystal Gems for a month by now, was he finally ready to establish himself as one of them?

The light faded, Herkimer’s heeled boots touching down on the table. Though his choice in footwear didn’t change, the rest of his outfit certainly did. Longer sleeves, shorter gloves, and boots going up to his knees.

And among the changes was a yellow-tinted star placed right on his chest.

Herkimer twirled around, examining his new look. “Well, there we are. I don’t think I did too bad-” Herkimer squealed as he was cut off, being tackled to the floor in a hug by Bumblebee.

“You’re back!” the small gem cheered. The rest of the group, aside from Pietersite, gathered around Herkimer as the lithe gem stood up.

“Nice new look, Herkimer!”

“It fits you well. I’m impressed”

“You just HAD to keep the heels, huh? Ugh, so impractical.”

“Oh shut up Agate, he’s rocking it.”

Herkimer couldn’t help smiling at all the praise he was getting. He was a bit worried what the others would think of his new look, but they seemed to be taking it well.

What it took for it though…

Herkimer’s gaze turned to Pietersite, who gave him a gentle, caring smile. The look in his eyes said everything. The smaller gem smiled wider, then turned back to the excited group surrounding him.

“I thought it was about time I got a new look anyways.” Herkimer stated, standing up taller.

“And about time you finally adopted the Crystal Gem look.” Aventurine laughed.

“Er- Well-” Herkimer stuttered a bit before groaning. “Look, it doesn’t mean anything that I’m an ‘official’ Crystal Gem. I just don’t want to let Iolite win this war, and I don’t care who I have to fight alongside to keep that outcome from happening.”

“Ah, you’ll come around eventually.”

“Fat chance.”

Pietersite felt his smile falter slightly as he returned to his work. He could feel Herkimer was still hurting from what Iolite did to him. 

And it wasn’t just from that one battle either.


End file.
